If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

In a letter written to nine former leaders of the Drug Enforcement Administration, President Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder threatened states attempting to legalize marijuana. In the past the Obama Administration had taken somewhat more of a “hands off” approach to the regional legalization of medical cannabis; now, however, the Attorney General is apparently adamantly opposed to any effort by individual states to regulate and tax pot for adult use. In response to California’s pot legalization initiative, Holder wrote in part:

“Let me state clearly that the Department of Justice strongly opposes Proposition 19. If passed, this legislation will greatly complicate federal drug enforcement efforts to the detriment of our citizens . . . We will vigorously enforce the CSA [Controlled Substances Act] against those individuals and organizations that possess, manufacture or distribute marijuana for recreational use, even if such activities are permitted under state law.”

Chief of Police Says Legalize Pot Now

Joseph McNamara, a research fellow in drug policy at Stanford University, and former San Jose Chief of Police, has long argued for cannabis legalization, explaining that sixty percent of drug cartel money comes from the sale of illegal marijuana. In a statement from the Yes on 19 campaign, Mr. McNamara responded to Holder’s letter:

“Californians are not going to let politicians in Washington, DC tell them how to vote. As we saw with the repeal of alcohol prohibition, it takes action from the states to push the federal government to change its policies.

Passing Proposition 19 in California will undoubtedly kick start a national conversation about changing our country’s obviously failed marijuana prohibition policies. If the federal government wants to keep fighting the nation’s failed ‘war on marijuana’ while we’re in the midst of a sagging economic recovery and two wars, it just proves that the establishment politicians’ priorities are wrongly focused on maintaining the status quo.”

Americans are petitioning President Obama and the rest of the White House to legalize and tax marijuana.

The White House recently unveiled a new webpage called “We The People,” through which average Americans can start and distribute legislation-minded petitions.

“Our Constitution guarantees your right to petition our government. Now, with We the People, we’re offering a new way to submit an online petition on a range of issues — and get an official response,” said the White House on September 1st, ahead of the site’s official launch. “We’re announcing We the People before it’s live to give folks time to think about what petitions they want to create, and how they are going to build the support to get a response.”

Well, that site has gone live, and Talking Points Memo points out that three of the six most popular “We The People” petitions call for the legalization of marijuana.

About 5,000 people have signed a petition demanding the government “stop interfering with state marijuana legalization efforts,” a direct reference to the Department of Justice’s meddling in states like Montana.

Another petition reading, “legalize, regulate and tax marijuana,” has over 5,000 signatories, while the top petition on the site — “legalize and regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol” — has already collected over 18,000 supporters.

President Obama has a complicated history when it comes to medical and legalized marijuana. Though he said in 2008 that he would take a “hands off” approach to medical marijuana, the president has ordered the Justice Department to crack down on dispensaries.
(Tell the SUCKERS what they want to hear BEFORE they vote and then do a 180 after the election.)

He also avoided pot-related questions during his Twitter Town Hall earlier this year, although they were the most popular subject of questioning. Despite widespread support for medical and legalized marijuana, the commander-in-chief consistently ignores having a deep, detailed conversation on the herb’s place in the nation.

Considering this checkered pot past, one wonders if the White House will make good on sending out the aforementioned “response” or if they’ll continue to overlook the topic, thereby inflaming voters who would like to see our country move past the archaic, discriminatory and expensive war on drugs.

Comment

Obama Administration Steps Up Attack on Legal Marijuana with Threat to Growers

Sunday, July 03, 2011
Obama Administration Steps Up Attack on Legal Marijuana with Threat to Growers
The Obama administration made it clear this week with a memo to federal prosecutors that Washington is not going to allow large-scale cultivation of medical marijuana by local governments.

With the growing acceptance of medical marijuana dispensaries, some cities and towns in California began shifting toward the idea of having indoor “pot farms” within their jurisdictions as a means to increase the local tax base. Oakland, in particular, discussed the idea of establishing four privately-owned cultivation centers that might generate millions of dollars in new revenue for the city.

The U.S. Department of Justice, though, decided enough was enough. On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole informed U.S. Attorneys in a communiqué that the administration’s hands-off policy on medical marijuana did not apply to urban cultivation efforts.

Joe Elford, chief counsel for Americans for Safe Access, warned that the memo might embolden prosecutors in California to go after dispensaries and roll back medical marijuana systems in other states. “I would be hearing, ‘If you get too big, we may well put a target on your back,’ ” he told The Los Angeles Times.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
(Been LOSING this WAR since the 30's. Is anybody in Washington smart enough to throw up the white flag. Hell no! Too much money to be SPENT fighting ANOTHER WAR the U.S. can't win. Once unbeatable like Mike Tyson, the U.S. has been on a losing streak when it comes to wars, hasn't it?
"We're #2!!! Go USA!!!")

Comment

David H. Koch, 71, and Charles Koch, 75, together own Koch Industries, a Wichita, Kansas-based company started by their father Fred. The privately-held, $100 billion-dollar-a-year company owns such subsidiaries as Georgia Pacific and the maker of Lycra and Stainmaster carpets, but is best-known for its oil and energy business. Koch owns thousands of miles of pipelines and refineries in several states.
(There certainly isn't any corruption in the energy market is there ENRON?)

In one previously undisclosed document from a French labor court case, Koch Industries admits the payments are "violations of criminal law."

"It's a document right there in the court record, out of the lips of Koch Industries," said David Evans, one of the co-authors of the Bloomberg Markets article.

David Koch declined to speak when ABC News caught up with him outside his Park Avenue apartment in New York City and asked him to respond to the magazine's allegations.

In a statement posted online, Koch Industries accused Bloomberg Markets magazine of "substandard reporting" and said the company obeys the law.

"Koch Industries and its affiliated companies are committed to compliance," said the statement, "and Koch companies strive to live by their Guiding Principles, including most importantly Principles 1 and 2, which require that all business dealings are conducted lawfully, with integrity, and in compliance with all laws."

Raymond Davis, the CIA contractor who sparked a months-long international drama when he shot and killed two men in broad daylight on the streets of Pakistan in January, appeared in a Denver court today after being charged with a felony for his part a skirmish in a bagel shop parking lot.

Rob McCallum, a spokesman for the court who attended the hearing, told ABC News Davis was calm as he was read the charges against him, including second degree assault -- a felony that carries a minimum mandatory sentence of five years in prison. He was taken into custody after the hearing and a Colorado judge set bond at $10,000. As of this report, Davis was in the process of posting that bond, a spokesperson for the Douglas County Sheriff's Office said.

During a discussion of one provision of the assault charge -- specifically one that would at least temporarily strip Davis of his personal firearm -- an attorney for Davis revealed that after his troubled experience working for the CIA in Pakistan, Davis has become a firearms instructor often working in the Washington, D.C., area. The judge ruled that Davis would be allowed to use his firearm, but not in Colorado and only under supervision in the D.C. area, McCallum said.

Davis has not pleaded in the case and is not expected back in court until a preliminary hearing in December. An attorney for Davis, William Frankfurt, did not respond to requests for comment for this report.

After spending months touting the Obama administration's decision to loan $535 million to the California solar energy upstart Solyndra, top officials took a new tack Wednesday while testifying before Congress about the company's abrupt shut-down and bankruptcy: the loan, they said, was actually the Bush administration's idea. The Energy Department's top lending officer told Congress that the Solyndra loan application was not only filed during President Bush's term, but it surged towards completion before Obama took office in January 2009.

"By the time the Obama administration took office in late January 2009, the loan programs' staff had already established a goal of, and timeline for, issuing the company a conditional loan guarantee commitment in March 2009," said Jonathan Silver, who heads the Energy loan program.

Comment

Taken together, that puts the third quarter's average monthly tally at 96,000 jobs, roughly the same as in the second quarter. In the first three months of this year, job growth averaged 166,000 a month.

"There's just been an undeniable decline," said Heidi Shierholz, a labor economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington. She calculated that the economy would need to generate 280,000 jobs every month for five straight years to return to the 5% jobless rate that was in force before the recession hit in late 2007.

Shierholz and others expressed particular concern about the continued erosion of government jobs, notably at public schools.

In September, local education jobs fell by another 24,400, accounting for most of the 34,000 positions lost in government overall. The Postal Service slashed 5,300 jobs last month.

October 7, 2011
A Los Angeles County sheriff's rookie who graduated at the top of his recruit class resigned after only a few weeks on the job, alleging that a supervisor made him beat up a mentally ill jail inmate, according to interviews and law enforcement records.

The deputy, Joshua Sather, said that shortly before the inmate's beating his supervisor said, "We're gonna go in and teach this guy a lesson," according to the records. The attack, Sather said, was then covered up.

Law enforcement records reveal that the incident caused tensions in the Sheriff's Department. Sather's uncle, a veteran sheriff's detective, angrily confronted the supervisor about making his nephew "beat up 'dings,' " slang for the mentally disabled. He then allegedly threatened to "put a bullet" in the supervisor's head.

Sather's case was pieced together by The Times from department sources as well as district attorney's documents in which Sather's uncle revealed his nephew's allegations to investigators.

Sheriff's officials launched an investigation and determined that an uncooperative inmate had been subdued by force, but concluded that no misconduct had occurred. They also asked the district attorney to review the uncle's alleged threat, but prosecutors declined to file charges.

Sather's allegation is among several first-hand accounts of unwarranted deputy violence against inmates in the nation's largest jail system. Last week, two chaplains and a movie producer released sworn statements that they witnessed deputies abusing inmates. But Sather's allegations are unusual because they come from within the department's own ranks, from the point of view of a deputy.

The FBI is now investigating several allegations of deputy abuse and misconduct in the jails.

Sather, a Long Beach native, had followed in his uncle's footsteps, earning a spot in the Sheriff's Academy and becoming his class' sole "Honor Recruit" for his leadership, athleticism and other abilities. As with virtually all rookies, his first assignment was jail duty.

The jails are a place where inexperienced deputies learn how to handle potentially violent and manipulative criminals, while under constant supervision. For Sather, the experience quickly became disturbing.

Sather's beating allegation and the drama that followed his decision to resign are documented in a seven-page district attorney's memo reviewed by The Times. The following account is based on that report:

On March 22, 2010, Sather was working on the sixth floor mental health ward of the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in downtown L.A. At some point during his shift, he, his supervisor and other deputies used force on the mentally ill inmate.

Soon afterward, Sather, a muscled, tattooed 23-year-old, called his uncle, Steven Sather, crying and distraught, records show. The young man apparently told his uncle that the beating was unwarranted and then had been covered up. The elder Sather told his nephew to do the "right thing" and be honest about what occurred.

The next day, worried that the rookie might be planning to quit, Steven Sather drove to Twin Towers intent on saving his nephew's career. The uncle and his partner parked behind the jail and left their guns in the trunk. In the watch commander's office, Steven Sather asked to see his nephew. But he was told the young man had resigned, citing "family issues" as his only reason.

Outside, Steven Sather and his partner had a colleague radio for Joshua Sather's supervisor, Bryan Brunsting.

When Brunsting saw the two gang detectives waiting for him, he asked what was going on.

"Do you know who I am?" Steven Sather asked.

Brunsting peered at the name embroidered on the detective's green-and-gold sheriff's raid jacket. He realized he was talking to his trainee's uncle. The rookie had failed to show up for a morning briefing, and Brunsting had just learned he'd quit.

Steven Sather led Brunsting away for a private conversation. Deputies nearby recalled that the exchange was heated.

"If you don't stop [messing] with my nephew, I'm gonna kick your ***. Stop [messing] with my nephew," Steven Sather shouted. "You know what this is about, getting him into situations that he shouldn't have got into. He's a … honor recruit and you put him into situations that you shouldn't have put him in."

A federal jury on Friday found a Coronado-based Navy SEAL guilty on 13 of 15 charges that he smuggled machine guns from Iraq and Afghanistan and headed a conspiracy to sell weapons and explosives in the United States.

The jury returned the verdict in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas after considering the fate of Nicholas Bickle for about 10 hours.

U.S. District Court Judge Roger Hunt allowed Bickle to remain free until that time.

Bickle didn't testify during the 2 1/2 week trial, and Pokorny had said prosecutors failed to prove their case.

The Navy SEAL had been nominated for the Bronze Star medal, with V for valor, in recognition for his bravery for a 2008 incident in which he is credited with retrieving a live grenade and saving fellow sailors from injury.

On Friday, the SEAL command in Coronado said that Bickle's superiors had removed his medal nomination from the routing process pending the outcome of the trial.

Comment

Growing demand for herb
Oregon -- If Melanie Barniskis doesn't take her medicine each night, chances are she won't be able to walk the next day. "Without it, I can't get out of bed to get the day started," said Barniskis, 54, of Phoenix. "When there is a pain flare, it's as if someone is driving two red-hot pokers into my feet and lower calves."

To ease the pain, Barniskis, a former 9-1-1 emergency dispatcher for the Bethel Police Department in Alaska, drinks a tincture of marijuana or munches a "medible" — a baked goodie containing pot.

Barniskis is one of more than 36,000 medical marijuana cardholders in Oregon and 4,000 in Jackson County who use marijuana to treat pain, nausea, cancer symptoms and other ailments.
(Perhaps the government needs to adjust to 2011 standards, not standards and information from the 30's.)

The Former Governor Delivered An Honest, Thorough Report. The President Wanted Something Different.

Washington, DC: "We need, and I use the word 'all out war,' or all fronts . . . ." That was Richard Nixon's reaction to his national commission's recommendation that marijuana no longer be a criminal offense, according to Nixon's Oval Office tapes. The year after Nixon's "all out war" marijuana arrests jumped by over 100,000 people.
(Why does the US need to waste our money on these imaginary wars that they will never win. At war against the people of the US. What's wrong with this picture? How many more CRIMINALS are YOU folks going to vote into the White House?)

The Nixon White House tapes from 1971-1972 demonstrate that the foundation of the modern war on marijuana was Nixonian prejudice, culture war and misinformation.
(Yes people, we have been LIED to and it's NOW acceptable?)

CSDP's Doug McVay spent several days at the National Archives listening to the Nixon White House tapes to find conversations about drug policy, especially regarding the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse ("the Shafer Commission"), appointed by President Nixon.

He found: Nixon blaming calls for marijuana legalization on Jews; Nixon blaming the decline and fall of ancient Rome, and of the Catholic Church, on homosexuality; and Nixon criticizing the CBS sitcom "All in the Family" as a show which promoted homosexuality. (Check out some of these transcripts.)

More importantly, Nixon made clear several times that he wanted a report which supported his views and 'tough on crime' policies, no matter what the facts might be. To his credit, Governor Shafer delivered instead an honest report, with conclusions based on all the evidence -- even though at the time he was being considered for a federal judgeship (needless to say, he didn't get it).

"At a critical juncture when the United States decided how it would handle marijuana, President Nixon's prejudices did more to dominate policy that the thoughtful and extensive review of his own Blue Ribbon Commission," observed Kevin Zeese, President of Common Sense for Drug Policy.
(Don't blame me, I would have voted for McGovern if I thought voting actually made a difference. And my 1st amendment right gives me the right to complain EVEN if I CHOOSE NOT to vote.)

"If we had followed the advice of the experts rather than Nixon's prejudices we would have less marijuana use, be spending less money on marijuana enforcement and many million less people would have been arrested."

Since the Commission issued its recommendation that marijuana offenses not be a crime, fifteen million people have been arrested on marijuana charges.
(Have to keep the prisons and prison system PROFITABLE somehow. Nixon was a "Dick" anyway, wasn't he. No respect while alive, less respect when dead. Deal with it. It's the way I choose to be!)

Highlights of Nixon comments on marijuana:
Jews and marijuana: "I see another thing in the news summary this morning about it. That's a funny thing, every one of the bastards that are out for legalizing marijuana is Jewish. What the Christ is the matter with the Jews, Bob, what is the matter with them? I suppose it's because most of them are psychiatrists . . ."
Marijuana and the culture wars: "You see, homosexuality, dope, immorality in general. These are the enemies of strong societies. That's why the Communists and the left-wingers are pushing the stuff, they're trying to destroy us."
Marijuana compared to alcohol: marijuana consumers smoke "to get high" while "a person drinks to have fun." Nixon also saw marijuana leading to loss of motivation and discipline but claimed: "At least with liquor I don't lose motivation."
Marijuana and political dissent: ". . . radical demonstrators that were here . . . two weeks ago . . . They're all on drugs, virtually all."
Drug education: "Enforce the law, you’ve got to scare them."
The Links: Download a PDF copy of the CSDP Research Report, "Nixon Tapes Show Roots of Marijuana Prohibition: Misinformation, Culture Wars and Prejudice," here. Also, click here to download text transcripts of portions of Nixon White House taped conversations, including the portions excerpted in the report. Check out this column written by humorist Gene Weingarten of the Washington Post on March 21, 2002, based on CSDP's research work, "Just What Was He Smoking?" Read this op-ed by CSDP President Kevin B. Zeese, "Once-Secret 'Nixon Tapes' Show Why The US Outlawed Pot." Finally, review the Shafer Commission's report, "Marihuana, A Signal of Misunderstanding," by clicking here.

Comment

Congress, when it passed the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, temporarily labeled marijuana a "Schedule I substance" -- a flatly illegal drug with no approved medical purposes. But Congress acknowledged that it did not know enough about marijuana to permanently relegate it to Schedule I, and so they created a presidential commission to review the research and recommend a long-term strategy.
(Governments only LIE to those willing to believe a LIE!)

President Nixon got to appoint the bulk of the commissioners. Not surprisingly, he loaded it with drug warriors. Nixon appointed Raymond Shafer, former Republican Governor of Pennsylvania, as Chairman. As a former prosecutor, Shafer had a "law and order," drug warrior reputation. Nixon also appointed nine Commissioners, including the dean of a law school, the head of a mental health hospital, and a retired Chicago police captain. Along with the Nixon appointees, two senators and two congressmen from each party served on the Commission.

The Shafer Commission -- officially known as the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse -- took its job seriously. They launched fifty research projects, polled the public and members of the criminal justice community, and took thousands of pages of testimony. Their work is still the most comprehensive review of marijuana ever conducted by the federal government.
(The Shafer Commission did what a Presidential Commission does, reports the facts, without bias or an agenda. Probably a first and last in this sorry a-s-s country.)

Pain Relief
One of the major benefits associated with medicinal marijuana use is the relief of chronic or neuropathic pain. A study published in February 2009 in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology examined the effect of medical marijuana treatment in HIV patients who experience neuropathic pain. In this study, Dr. Ellis and colleagues found that 46 percent of patients administered medical marijuana experienced at least a 30 percent reduction in pain. In contrast, only 18 percent of patients administered placebo achieved similar results.
(...but the clown shoe wearing dopes in Washington believed there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and look at how many innocent people have died from that COVER UP by the government?)

Comment

Price
A CBS news editorial by Dr. Mitch Earleywine mentions that medical marijuana can be markedly cheaper to use than certain prescription drugs.
(It's always about MONEY and Wall Street, isn't it? No profit for the Wall Street medical folks if pot is legalized or decriminalized is there?)

This is especially pertinent to patients in chronic pain who do not have medical insurance and need to pay out of pocket to see a doctor for a basic painkiller prescription. While THC, an active ingredient of marijuana, is available as the legal, FDA approved prescription drug Marinol, NORML.org explains that medical marijuana is substantially cheaper than Marinol.

Lack of Serious Side Effects
Despite the cultural and legal taboos of marijuana use, there are actually very few scientifically confirmed long-term side effects of marijuana use.
(Do CIGARETTES which are legal kill more people than marijuana which is illegal? Is nicotine a drug? Is nicotine addictive? Why are DRUGS added to cigarettes? OK, exhale I'm done. Looked in the mirror and I need about 40+ years of beauty sleep.)

A number of studies reviewed by cannabismd.net explain that unlike many prescription drugs, especially prescription pain killers, marijuana has a low potential for dependency. Even more importantly, consumption of marijuana cannot produce a fatal overdose. A 1995 report prepared by the World Health Organization states, "There are no recorded cases of overdose fatalities attributed to cannabis, and the estimated lethal dose for humans extrapolated from animal studies is so high that it cannot be achieved." The most common side effects of marijuana use include coughing, wheezing and bronchitis if marijuana is smoked. These side effects are easily remedied by the use of a vaporizer or by eating foods prepared with marijuana. Individuals with certain psychological conditions, cardiovascular problems or with a history of lung dysfunction may experience more adverse side effects and should consult a physician before using medical marijuana.

Comment

For thousands of years, people have smoked or chewed the leaves of the tobacco plant, Nicotiana tabacum. Tobacco was first found and cultivated in the Americas, perhaps as early as 6000 B.C. Following the discovery and colonization of North and South America, the tobacco plant was exported widely, to continental Europe and the rest of the civilized world. Even in its early days, tobacco use was controversial. Some hailed its medicinal properties.

For example, tobacco was supposed to be protective against the ravages of the Plague. As early as the 1600s, people speculated that there might be a link between diseases, like cancer, and tobacco use.

Since then, modern research methods have provided evidence of this link, and public service announcements that warn of tobacco's health risks and addictive nature are seen regularly on TV.
(Are cigarettes legal to purchase? YES. Can one grow his or her own tobacco? NO! Keep telling yourselves how free this country is.)